


The Minus Sign

by orphan_account



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Bullying, Cyberbullying, High School AU, Self Harm, Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-21
Updated: 2017-07-21
Packaged: 2018-12-04 21:09:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11563368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: This is a line and this line is his.If he ignores it, then it'll go away.





	The Minus Sign

Tyler is walking away from the school gates. 

One foot in front of the other. He knows that he's following him. He can hear him talking to him. Ignore it. Tyler ignores it. 

One foot im front of the other. 

"Why the fuck are you walking away?" He has venom in his voice. 

"I'm going home." One foot in front of the other. 

"No you're not, you're going to fight me, retard." 

One foot in front of the other. 

"I'm fucking talking." One foot next to the other. Tyler turns around. 

"Just leave me alone, you piece of shit." The words feel unnatural coming out of Tyler's mouth. He has to call him that. He needs to be alone. He wants to go home. 

The boy is stronger than Tyler thinks, because a single push from him knocks him to the ground. 

"What the fuck did you just call me?" Tyler is on the ground, there is gravel in his palms and he feels like his knees are grazed under his jeans, he realises that people are watching. 

"I said," The boy looms over Tyler, who is so intent on not making a scene that he scrambles to his feet. "What did you just call me?" 

Tyler has to bite his tongue not to respond. If he responds people will think it's a fight. People are gathering, most of which are the boy's friends. Tyler has no friends. 

Once Tyler finds his feet, he tries to walk away. One foot in front of the other.

He tries. 

"You're a fucking faggot." The boy's hands are on Tyler again. Tyler is on the ground again. There is a crowd of students now, surrounding him, he's trapped. He can hear some of them begin chanting 'fight.' It's not a fight. 

It's only a fight if you fight back. 

Tyler takes a second to recover from the blow after hitting the asphalt, but he can't get up because the boy has just kicked him in the ribs. It's swift and it's surprising and he knows it must have bruised. 

He looks pathetic, on the floor as the boy stands over him, he wonders if people are videoing it like last time. People are yelling now, things like 'make him cry' and 'hit him.' 

It doesn't take a lot to make Tyler cry because he can feel tears in his eyes when the boy kicks him again. He doesn't try to get up. Tyler is scared and weak and on display for everyone to see. 

"No one wants you." He hears the boy say as he crouches over Tyler's dishevelled form. "You're a fucking retard, everyone hates you." He hits Tyler in the temple and Tyler whines slightly, he can hear people laughing. 

He hits Tyler four more times, Tyler is covering his face and asking him to stop. People are still finding it funny, people are still videoing it. The boy gets bored of hitting him and stands up. 

Tyler stays on the ground, still shielding his face out of fear, the boy spits on Tyler's shirt. People are still laughing. Tyler is a joke. He's just a joke to be shared on Facebook and to be laughed at. 

The boy is talking to his friends. Tyler realises he can't just lay on the ground forever, as much as he'd like to never move again. He's sweaty and dirty from being on the ground and spat on and his body aches from the beating. The crowd is slightly smaller but he still has trouble getting away. People keep pushing him but he just wants to go home. 

One foot in front of the other. 

The boy and his group follow Tyler home. They are shouting things and people are looking and the boy keeps asking him to fight but Tyler says nothing. One foot in front of the other. 

When Tyler gets home, his mom is still at work, so he can assess the damage without her questions about spit and blood. He can't, however, get rid of the bruise on his temple, that she'll inevitably question him about. 

Tyler sighs as he dumps his shirt in the laundry basket, and looks at himself in the mirror. He usually can't for very long. This time there are already small bruises forming where his ribs are. Tyler gets into the shower. 

The soapy water stings his grazed knees and palms. After washing himself he stares down his disposable razor and cuts without taking it apart. They're shallow and Tyler wants to cry. Tyler doesn't cry. He gets out of the shower and collapses into his bed, he hears his mother unlock the door and flinches, having to remind himself that he isn't at school and no one can hurt him here except himself. 

He puts on some clothes and greets his mom, who frowns at the new forming bruise on his head. 

"You know you can tell me if it's happening again, right?" 

"I just tripped, mom, I'd tell you." Tyler lies. 

"Because if it is we can take you out again, I'll homeschool you like we used to." She has a tight look of concern that Tyler can't make eye contact with. 

He shudders at the mention of home schooling. "I tripped, really." 

 

He knows checking Facebook that night is a bad idea, he knows it's going to hurt him. It always does, seeing his abusers be happy and having friends and seeing people live better, happier lives than him hurts. He checks it anyway, and the video is the first thing he sees. 

He doesn't recognise himself at first, he looks smaller than he imagines. He looks disgusting. He looks worthless. He manages not to look at the comments but his imagination runs wild with what they must be saying. He feels sick. He cries. 

In school the next morning, people are talking about the 'fight.' Tyler tries not to listen. He hears that it's Jenna Black's birthday next week. Tyler usually doesn't like popular girls but Jenna had always been nice to him. She's one of those girls who's just nice to everyone. Some people would call it fake, but even false kindness is refreshing compared to the brutal honesty Tyler is used to. 

He gets called to the counsellor's office. He can feel his heart pounding in his chest and wonders how far the video got around. 

"Tyler, come in." She says, Tyler can't read her tone and his racing heart doesn't slow down. One foot in front of the other. 

He sits down. 

"It's come to my attention that you and another boy have been causing trouble, did you have a fight outside school grounds?" She interrogates him. He knows the punishment for fighting. Social inclusion. 

"It wasn't a fight." Tyler shakes his head. 

"Then what's that bruise on your head?" Tyler instantly touches his temple, he'd forgotten about it. 

"It wasn't a fight." 

"That's not what the other boy said. He told me you'd called him something that I won't repeat, he told me that you'd hurt him. Is that true?" 

"I didn't hurt him. I called him a piece of shit but he called me things too. He hit me, I can show you the videos." 

"I don't want to see any videos." She sighs. "He and the other boys all said that you were fighting when I asked them, Tyler, you understand why I believe them over you." 

"But they're lying."

"Why would they lie? They're nice boys and they all say the same thing, and wuite frankly, Tyler, I wouldn't put it past you given your history." 

Tyler can feel tears bubbling in his eyes again. Pathetic. 

"I'm not lying."

"Then why are you crying?" 

"Because you accused me of fighting but he started it." He doesn't say he was being bullied. He doesn't say the B word, that makes him seem like a victim. 

"I don't care who started it, you already admitted that you called him a piece of, well, something awful. You can't fight back, Tyler, it's what he wants. You can't give them that reaction. You just have to ignore it. You've got a thick skin, you can just deal with it and they'll get bored eventually." 

"Okay." Tyler says numbly. "I'm sorry." 

The counsellor accepts this. "I'll let you off this time, but don't let it happen again or there will be inclusions in it for the both of you." 

"Thank you." He gets up to leave. One foot in front of the other.

"Oh, and Tyler?" 

"Yeah?" 

"You're not, uh, you're not hurting yourself anymore, are you?" She asks, and Tyler takes a second to consider his answer. 

"No, of course not." He lies, praying she won't check. Although, maybe if she does then she'll help him, he doesn't count on it. 

"Okay, that's all, Ty." She doesn't check. It's that easy. She doesn't care. 

He leaves her office and goes to lunch. He sits alone. 

He is in the middle of a sandwich when Jenna walks up to him. It takes him by surprise. 

"Uh, hi." She smiles warmly, turning around to look back at the table she cane from, which is full of her friends watching them carefully, some of them sniggering. 

"Hey," Tyler looks up at her. "Are you alright?" 

"Yeah, thanks." Jenna nods. "So, would you like to come to my party next week?" 

Tyler nearly chokes on his sandwich. This has got to be a joke. He sees that she is smiling sincerely and is genuinely awaiting his answer. Oh. 

"Yeah, sure!" He smiles. "Uh, I don't have your addresses though?" He says, not wanting to straight up ask where she lives so he doesn't sound creepy. 

"Great! And don't worry, I'll just add you to the group chat and we can discuss it there." 

"Oh, nice, thanks!" Tyler can't believe this. He's going to actually go to a party. Jenna's party. He might even make a friend. 

"No problem." Jenna smiles before walking back to her table of friends. Tyler smiles through the rest of lunch. 

 

On his way to basketball practice, he's stopped by a boy with yellow hair. He's seen him around (he's hard to miss, really) but never bothered to learn his name. He thinks it's James or Jim or something. He's hesitant because no strangers who stop him are friendly. 

"I saw that video." 

Tyler feels a lump in his throat. He keeps walking. One foot in front of the other. 

"That's bullying, you know, what they did." 

He sounds sincere but Tyler tells himself he doesn't mean it. He's trying to trick him. He's going to hurt him. One foot in front of the other. 

"I'm here if you ever need anything." The boy offers. 

That's one Tyler hasn't heard before. One foot in front of the other. 

"Please listen to me." The boy grabs his wrist and Tyler yelps. Tyler is frozen in place. 

"I'm sorry I just wanted you to know I'm here if you ever need a friend." His hand is still around Tyler's wrist. 

"Thank you." Tyler says and pulls his arm away. The boy looks at Tyler's wrist and his face drops. 

"Why, um, why is it red?" He asks and Tyler realises his sleeve has rolked up to reveal his shallow cuts. He instantly retracts his arm and pulls his sleeve over his hand. 

"I gave to go." One foot in front of the other. 

"Did he make you do that?" 

Tyler doesn't respond. 

"You dont need to do that." The boy says. One foot in front of the other. "You can talk to me if you need to." 

One foot in front of the other. 

Basketball practice is never easy. He regrets joining the team but he used to love it and think it would help him make friends, but he's just the black sheep in a team of popular guys. He can't quit now though, because it's the only thing he can do right. 

Tyler hears the other guys talking about the party in the locker room and forgets that he shouldn't interrupt conversations he isn't a part of. 

"Oh, she invited me to that." He says casually. 

The rest of the team pause for a moment before laughing. 

"Shut up, Tyler." 

 

When Tyler gets home, he checks the group chat the Jenna added him into, there's already walls of text from messages people have already sent, he doesn't read them and starts typing. 

_Tyler Joseph: Hey, does anyone know what address the party will be at?_

_Georgia Davids: Who the hell added him?_

_You have been removed from the chat._

Tyler feels his heart drop. 

He scrolls through the chat before he got removed and finds a conversation from yesterday. 

_Brendon Urie: You should invite Tyler as a prank_

_Sophie Wall: Ew no Jen don't_

_Jenna Joseph: idk that seems kinda cruel_

_Hannah Walsh: come on it'll be funny_

_Sophie Wall: No he'll ruin it_

_Jenna Joseph: i dont wanna be a bitch_

_Michael Salih: you should invite him but just lock him outside when he comes_

_Brendon Urie: oh my god Jen you have to thatll be so hilarious_

_Hannah Walsh: i wonder what hell wear?_

_Sophie Wall: A trash bag?_

_Hannah Walsh: would be an improvement tbh_

_Jenna Joseph: Come on guys don't be assholes_

_Brendon Urie: did you guys see him talking to himself the other day? i swear he's a schizo or something_

_Micheal Salih: yeah he's really weird_

_Sophie Wall sent a video._

 

Tyler turns off his phone. He doesn't bother finding the razor. He cries. 

 

He dreads Wednesday because Wednesday is math and math has the people who bully him the worst in it. He never gets to focus on any equations because someone's always either throwin rubbish, coins, or stationary at him, or calling him things or trying to get a reaction out of him some way or another. Tyler rarely reacts anymore because it only gets him punishments from teachers. Instead he has to sit back and let it hit him. If he complains to the teacher he always gets told the same thing. 

Just ignore it and it will go away. 

It doesn't go away. 

"Hey, retard." The boy spews. "A little birdy told me you've been cutting. What are you, emo now?" The boy pretends to drag a ruler down his forearm, mocking Tyler. 

"You should do it you know, slit your wrists, I'd tell you to hang yourself but you'd probably fuck that up too." 

One of his friends joins in. "You're so annoying, you know that? No one likes you. Look around this room, no one in here gives a shit about you. We'd all be happier if you didn't bother coming in tomorrow. Just do it. No one will care." 

Most of the class is listening to the torment and none of them do anything, not even the teacher, they all just watch because they all know it's true. The words don't quite hit Tyler at first, he thinks that perhaps he's become desensitised as he hears it enough inside his own head. He knows what was said was bad, he can tell from the shocked look on his peers' faces, but for some reason it doesn't cut as deep as it should. 

"Miss, can I be excused?" 

Tyler is trembling to the bathroom. One foot in front of the other. He is sitting on the gross floor with his back against the stall wall and he's beginning to hyperventilate, the words repeating over and over again in his head. It finally kicks in and it hurts because he knows it's all true. 

He's sobbing and he prays he's the only one in the bathroom because he can't stop. He's glad he keeps the blade of a pencil sharpener in his bag. 

When he's finished he pushes himself up to his feet and out of the bathroom, where the yellow boy is standing in the hall. 

"Are you okay?" He asks, looking concerned. 

"You told him." 

"I thought it would make him stop. I thought it would show him how much he hurt you and he wouldn't do it anymore." 

Tyler rolls his eyes. "This is what he wants. He does it to hurt me." 

"I didn't mean to make him do that." The boy looks genuinely sorry. 

"I know. It's okay." Tyler says. 

"It's not. He shouldn't have said that, that was harsh." 

"He wasn't wrong." 

Before the yellow boy can say anything, Tyler has turned around and is making his way back to class. 

 

At home, Tyler decides he won't fuck up hanging himself. He ties the noose out of rope from his garage, he puts it tightly around his neck and stands steadily on the chair before placing one foot in front of the other.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a vent fic to help me cope with trauma and I'll probably delete it but since I left high school recently I've been having nightmares about the worst memories and idk I thought projecting would help 
> 
> anyway please leave comments and kudos if you can


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